Mississippi School District Removes TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD From Reading List: Critical Linking, October 17

Sponsored by The Bloodprint by Ausma Zehanat Khan, published by Harper Voyager.

The Biloxi school district in Mississippi has decided to remove To Kill a Mockingbird from its junior-high reading list. The reason? Some of the book’s language “makes people uncomfortable,” the vice president of the school board, Kenny Holloway, said. “There were complaints about it,” he added, “and we can teach the same lesson with other books.” The administrator insisted kids could still go to the library to read the book “but they’re going to use another book in the 8th grade course.”

Homeless people spending time in and around public libraries are nothing unusual in metropolitan areas. It has been written about before, widely. But at this central library in St. Louis, the city system’s crown jewel, a conundrum that exists all over the country was heightened to a rare degree. A library is supposed to be a place for all people. But how does the library keep its doors open to all?

Issa Rae (@issarae) is the ultimate #GirlBoss, writing her own YouTube show, memoir, and television show based around her misadventures as an awkward black girl. While writing and starring in her HBO show, Insecure, may take up a lot of her time, she still manages to keep up with her reading. Here’s a look inside the literary life of Issa Rae.